Conversations on Health Care Episodes
Dr. Lisa Dulsky Watkins
Dr. William Kassler
Lowell Weicker
Todd Park
Dr. Robert Petzel
Lois Capps
Dr. Amelie Ramirez
Dr. Paul Grundy
Dr. Howard Adelman
Dr. Brent James
Mildred Thompson
Mark Bertolini
Gov. Bill Ritter
Rebecca Patton
Dr. Ed O’Neil
Dr. Danielle Ofri
Stuart Altman
Dr. Cecil Wilson
Chip Kahn
John Larson
Dr. David Satcher
John Dingell
Uwe E. Reinhardt
Thomas Goetz
Dr. Thomas Lee
Dr. Robert Berenson
Dr. Gail Wilensky
James Clyburn
T.R. Reid
Dr. Karen Davis
Dr. Peter J. Pronovost
Dr. Thomas Bodenheimer
Dr. Kristen Zarfos
Nicole D. Lamoureux
Anh Cao
Jennie Chin Hansen
Chris Dodd
Jon Kingsdale
Dr. David Blumenthal
Dr. Mark Murray
Sharon Schindler Rising
Sandra Ryan
Dr. John Agwunobi
Nancy Pelosi
Dr. Mitch Katz
Every Wednesday at 4:30 we broadcast a new episode on WESU 88.1 FM. If you missed our latest airing or want to hear past shows please scroll through the list below to hear audio, read the show summary or get links to outside information referenced in each program.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 4, 2010
Dr. Lisa Dulsky Watkins, associate director of the Vermont Blueprint for Health, discusses Vermont’s medical home project.
Conversations on Health Care focuses this week on the state of health reform in Vermont—before and after federal legislation. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Lisa Dulsky Watkins, associate director of the Vermont Blueprint for Health, about the next steps for this integrated Patient-Centered Medical Home pilot project.
FEATURED GUEST:
Dr. Lisa Dulsky Watkins
WEDNESDAY, JULY 28, 2010
Dr. William Kassler, chief medical officer for the New England region of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Conversations on Health Care focuses today on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. William Kassler, chief medical officer for the New England region of CMS, about the Multi-payer Advanced Primary Care Practice Demonstration project, as well future healthcare innovations under the direction of CMS.
FEATURED GUEST:
Dr. William Kassler
WEDNESDAY, JULY 21, 2010
Lowell Weicker, former U.S. senator and governor of Connecticut and current president of the Trust for America's Heath
Conversations on Health Care focuses today on our nation's public health system. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Lowell Weicker, president of the Trust for America's Health, a non-profit, non-partisan public health policy organization that is working to modernize the public health system in America.
FEATURED GUEST:
Lowell Weicker
WEDNESDAY, JULY 14, 2010
Todd Park, Chief Technology Officer at the Department of Health and Human Services, using data and technology to improve America’s health.
Conversations on Health Care focuses this week on some of the most current and unique health care innovations. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with HHS Chief Technology Officer, Todd Park, leader of a federal effort to “liberate” data and make government more open and transparent.
FEATURED GUEST:
Todd Park
WEDNESDAY, JULY 7, 2010
The Veterans Affairs Healthcare System— Under Secretary for Health, Dr. Robert Petzel, discusses why this has become a model system of care.
Conversations on Health Care focuses today on the VA health system. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Robert Petzel, VA Under Secretary for Health, about why the VA healthcare system has become one of the most respected models of health care in America.
FEATURED GUEST:
Dr. Robert Petzel
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 30, 2010
Congresswoman Lois Capps, U.S. Representative of California and founder of the House Nursing Caucus, discusses her commitment to quality health care for all.
Conversations on Health Care speaks with Congresswoman Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara, founder and co-chair of the House Nursing Caucus. Congresswoman Capps is a former nurse, public health advocate and since being elected to Congress in 1998, she has made it her legislative priority to help underserved populations gain access to quality health care.
FEATURED GUEST:
Lois Capps
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23, 2010
Dr. Amelie Ramirez, director of Salud America!, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation national research program and network to prevent obesity among Latino youth.
Conversations on Health Care focuses this week on the impact of obesity for Latino youth. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Amelie Ramirez, director of Salud America!, about building the evidence base to learn what the most effective strategies are to address the epidemic.
FEATURED GUEST:
Dr. Amelie Ramirez
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 16, 2010
Dr. Paul Grundy, IBM’s global director of health care and founder of the Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative.
Conversations on Health Care focuses this week on corporations striving for better value in purchasing health care. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Paul Grundy, IBM’s global director of health care and founder of the Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative, about providing patient-centered primary care as a standard of care not only for large corporations, but for communities small and large.
FEATURED GUEST:
Dr. Paul Grundy
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 9, 2010
Dr. Howard Adelman, co-director of the national School Mental Health Project, a strategy to bring behavioral health services to schools.
Conversations on Health Care focuses this week on behavioral health in our nation’s schools. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Howard Adelman, co-director of the School Mental Health Project in California and its federally supported National Center for Mental Health in Schools, a strategy to bring behavioral health services to schools.
FEATURED GUEST:
Dr. Howard Adelman
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 2, 2010
Dr. Brent James, chief quality officer at Intermountain Healthcare, discusses his groundbreaking approach to clinical quality improvement.
Conversations on Health Care focuses on the work of one healthcare system in Utah and Idaho that has successfully put into practice the idea that higher quality drives down costs. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Brent James, the man who has led Intermountain into a model system of quality and efficiency in care through a measured clinical outcomes approach.
FEATURED GUEST:
Dr. Brent James
WEDNESDAY, MAY 26, 2010
Mildred Thompson, deputy director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center to Prevent Childhood Obesity, discusses childhood obesity and the campaign to fight it.
Conversations on Health Care focuses this week on the crucial topic of childhood obesity. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Mildred Thompson, deputy director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center to Prevent Childhood Obesity, about fostering a healthy environment to reverse this trend and the challenges and goals that go with it.
FEATURED GUEST:
Mildred Thompson
WEDNESDAY, MAY 19, 2010
Mark Bertolini, president of Aetna, on the insurance industry’s response to health-care reform.
Conversations on Health Care focuses this week on the health insurance industry. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Mark Bertolini, president of Aetna, on the new era for the health insurance industry following national health reform.
FEATURED GUEST:
Mark Bertolini
WEDNESDAY, MAY 12, 2010
Governor Bill Ritter of Colorado on leading health-care reform at the state level.
Conversations on Health Care focuses this week on states that can serve as models for health-care reform implementation. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Gov. Bill Ritter about his state’s efforts over the past four years to extend coverage and contain cost—and how federal health reform aligns with these efforts.
FEATURED GUEST:
Gov. Bill Ritter
WEDNESDAY, MAY 5, 2010
Rebecca Patton, president of the American Nurses Association, on the critical role of nursing in meeting the challenge of healthcare access and transformation.
Conversations on Health Care focuses this week—National Nurses Week—on the role nursing played in health reform, and the challenges ahead. ANA President Rebecca Patton speaks with Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter about the opportunities for nursing and the country to achieve the goals of the health reform legislation.
FEATURED GUEST:
Rebecca Patton
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 2010
A futurist perspective on health care with Dr. Ed O’Neil, Director of the Center for the Health Professions, and Professor in the Departments of Family and Community Medicine and the School of Nursing at the University of California, San Francisco.
Conversations on Health Care focuses on the future of health care in the context of national reform. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Ed O’Neil, Director of the Center for the Health Professions, and Professor in the Departments of Family and Community Medicine and the School of Nursing at the University of California, San Francisco, about leading the way forward.
FEATURED GUEST:
Dr. Ed O’Neil
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21, 2010
Dr. Danielle Ofri, author of Medicine in Translation: Journeys with My Patients, discusses her unique perspective on health care and immigration.
Conversations on Health Care focuses on an important and timely topic in health care: providing immigrants with access to quality health care. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Danielle Ofri, a physician at Bellevue Hospital in New York City, co-founder and editor-in-chief of the Bellevue Literary Review, and author of the new book Medicine in Translation: Journeys with My Patients.
FEATURED GUEST:
Dr. Danielle Ofri
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 2010
Stuart Altman, a leading health-care economist, on meeting the future demands under health-care reform.
Conversations on Health Care turns its’ focus to the future challenges now that reform has passed. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Stuart Altman, a leading health-care economist and professor of National Health Policy at Brandeis University, about the potential for reform to deliver on its’ goals.
FEATURED GUEST:
Stuart Altman
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7, 2010
Dr. Cecil Wilson, president-elect of the American Medical Association, on the impact of health reform on health care, medicine and society.
Conversations on Health Care speaks with the president-elect of the American Medical Association. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter talk to Dr. Cecil Wilson about why the AMA supported this health reform legislation, and what it will do to improve health care for both patients and their providers.
FEATURED GUEST:
Dr. Cecil Wilson
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31, 2010
Chip Kahn, industry lobbyist and President of the Federation of American Hospitals, on the impact of health reform in America.
Conversations on Health Care speaks with the President of the Federation of American Hospitals. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter talk with Chip Kahn, a Washington insider who has worked both sides of the aisle, and whose organization supported Obama’s health care overhaul.
FEATURED GUEST:
Chip Kahn
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 2010
Congressman John Larson, Chairman of the Democratic Caucus, on the historic House vote for health care reform.
Conversations on Health Care speaks with the Chairman of the Democratic Caucus. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter talk with Congressman John Larson (CT–1) who helped pass the historic health care reform bill in the U.S. House of Representatives.
FEATURED GUEST:
John Larson
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17, 2010
Dr. David Satcher, former U.S. Surgeon General and Director of the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at the Morehouse School of Medicine, on eliminating health disparities.
Conversations on Health Care speaks with former U.S. Surgeon General. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter talk with Dr. David Satcher, a leader in eliminating health disparities and a champion of public health progress.
FEATURED GUEST:
Dr. David Satcher
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10, 2010
Congressman Dingell, champion of universal health care and longest serving member of Congress
Conversations on Health Care speaks with Congressman John Dingell (D-Michigan), who became the longest serving congressman in history on February 11, 2009. He has started every session of Congress by introducing the national health insurance bill his father, also a Congressman, authored when he was a Member of the House of Representatives. He joins Conversations to share his unique perspective on the immediate health-care reform horizon.
FEATURED GUEST:
John Dingell
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 3, 2010
Uwe E. Reinhardt, Professor of Economics at Princeton University and one of the nation’s leading authorities on health care economics
Conversations on Health Care focuses on the challenge of advancing health reform in America. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter talk with Uwe E. Reinhardt, professor of political economy, economics and public affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.
FEATURED GUEST:
Uwe E. Reinhardt
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2010
Thomas Goetz, author of The Decision Tree: Taking Control
of Your Health in the New Era of Personalized Medicine,
on taking control of your own health
Conversations on Health Care this week focuses on the confluence of ideas and technology and how to engage people in their health and involving them as decision-makers. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter talk with Thomas Goetz, Executive Editor of Wired Magazine and author of “The Decision Tree: Taking Control of Your Health in the New Era of Personalized Medicine.”
FEATURED GUEST:
Thomas Goetz
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2010
Dr. Thomas Lee, CEO of Partners Community Healthcare, discusses reforming the health care delivery system.
Conversations on Health Care focuses this week on reforming the health care delivery system. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter talk with Dr. Thomas Lee, professor of medicine at Harvard University and professor in Harvard’s Department of Health Policy and Management. Dr. Lee is also CEO of Partners Community Healthcare, Inc., the largest health system in New England.
FEATURED GUEST:
Dr. Thomas Lee
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2010
Dr. Robert Berenson, economist at the Urban Institute discusses health care policy and controlling future costs.
Conversations on Health Care focuses this week on innovative health care policy and controlling costs. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter talk with Dr. Robert Berenson, an Institute Fellow at the Urban Institute. He is an expert in health care policy, particularly Medicare, with experience practicing medicine as an internist, serving in senior positions in two Administrations, and helping organize and manage a successful preferred provider organization.
FEATURED GUEST:
Dr. Robert Berenson
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2010
Dr. Gail Wilensky, economist and former administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration: Exploring reform in a changing landscape
Conversations on Health Care focuses this week on health-care reform and predicted outcomes of reforms still under consideration by Congress. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter talk with Dr. Gail Wilensky, economist, former administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration and John M. Olin, Senior Fellow at Project HOPE, an international health education foundation, about what lies ahead for health-care reform in a changing national economy and landscape.
FEATURED GUEST:
Dr. Gail Wilensky
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27, 2010
Majority House Whip Rep James Clyburn — Health reform after Massachusetts, where do we go from here?
Conversations on Health Care focuses this week on what happens next with health reform after Massachusetts. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter talk with Congressman James E, Clyburn, D-South Carolina, House Majority Whip, about the prospects for breaking through the legislative logjam on healthcare reform.
FEATURED GUEST:
James Clyburn
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2010
What the U.S. can learn from other health care systems
This week, Conversations on Health Care discusses, with a best-selling author and journalist, health-care systems around the world and what the United States can learn from them. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter talk with T.R. Reid, a Washington Post correspondent, commentator on National Public Radio and the author of The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care.
FEATURED GUEST:
T.R. Reid
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2009
Dr. Karen Davis, PhD, leading economist, author,
and President of the Commonwealth Fund
This week, Conversation on Health Care talks with one of the country's leading economists, Dr. Karen Davis. As President of the Commonwealth Fund, a national philanthropy engaged in independent research on health and social policy issues, Dr. Davis and her team are highly influential researchers and thought leaders on issues of reform and innovation in health care.
FEATURED GUEST:
Dr. Karen Davis
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2009
“Medical break-through saves lives!” How a simple check list
can point us towards higher quality and lower cost.
Conversations on Health Care focuses focuses today on health care innovations that save lives and reduce costs. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter will speak with Dr. Peter J. Pronovost, an internationally acclaimed leader in patient safety and quality whose innovations are being adopted around the world. Dr. Pronovost is a practicing intensivist, anesthesiologist, and public health expert whose “check-list” for use in intensive care units is just one reason that Time Magazine named him one of America’s “100 Most Influential People” in 2008.
FEATURED GUEST:
Dr. Peter J. Pronovost
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2009
Designing a 21st century approach to patient-centered care
Conversations on Health Care focuses today on transformative primary care and designing a 21st century approach to patient-centered-care. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter will speak with Dr. Thomas Bodenheimer, renowned physician, author and researcher. Dr. Bodenheimer is a leading expert in primary care and strategies to improve quality and access while controlling costs.
FEATURED GUEST:
Dr. Thomas Bodenheimer
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2009
United States Preventive Services Task Force
Conversations on Health Care focuses today on the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and its recent recommendations for breast cancer screening. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter will speak with Dr. Kristen A. Zarfos, a surgeon and a national breast cancer expert. Dr. Zarfos has earned national praise for her advocacy for women’s health.
FEATURED GUEST:
Dr. Kristen Zarfos
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2009
The Free Clinic Movement
Conversations on Health Care focuses today on the resurgence of free health-care clinics around the country. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter will speak with Nicole D. Lamoureux, Executive Director of the National Association of Free Clinics, based in Alexandria, VA. Lamoureux has been at the forefront of the free clinic movement.
FEATURED GUEST:
Nicole D. Lamoureux
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2009
Republican Congressman Anh Cao, U.S. Representive of Louisiana, Discusses Health-Care Reform
Conversations on Health Care focuses today on the position of U.S. Rep. Anh Cao of Louisiana - the only Republican in the House of Representatives to vote for the health-care reform bill. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter will speak with Congressman Cao about the meaning and implication of his unique vote for health-care reform. A first-term Congressman, Cao fled Vietnam at the age of 8. He serves on the Committees on Homeland Security, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Oversight and Government Reform.
FEATURED GUEST:
Anh Cao
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2009
Discussing issues of aging in America, and the impact
of both health reform and innovations supporting the health
and well-being of our elders.
Today, Conversations on Health Care turns its focus to health reform and innovation as they relate to aging. Jennie Chin Hansen, President of AARP, joins us to talk about the priorities and concerns of AARP’s 40 million members and the organization—and the kinds of innovations that Ms. Hansen has pioneered over a long career as a nurse, gerontologist, and executive.
FEATURED GUEST:
Jennie Chin Hansen
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2009
Two Perspectives on Health Care Reform
This week, Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter explore health care reform from two perspectives: policy and practice. First, they'll speak with U.S. Senator Chris Dodd about the latest developments in the Senate to draft a reform bill. Then, they'll interview Jon Kingsdale, Execcutive Director of the Massachusetts Health Connector, about the state's health reform plan and how it can inform the national dialogue.
FEATURED GUESTS:
Chris Dodd
Jon Kingsdale
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2009
Health Information Technology with the Obama Administration
For our one-month anniversary show, we explore the future of health information technology. Hosts, Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter interview Dr. David Blumenthal, President Obama's National Coordiantor for Health Information Technology. Dr Blumenthal is tasked with modernizing our nation's health care system in order to improve the health of all Americans, bring down costs, and ensure long term growth.
FEATURED GUEST:
Dr. David Blumenthal
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2009
A Radical Redesign of Patient Scheduling
Our team will speak with Dr. Mark Murray, MPA, Principal of Mark Murray & Associates, a health care consulting firm based in Sacramento, CA. Dr. Murray helped create Advanced Access, which helps doctors and other health care providers dramatically decrease patient wait times and improve continuity of care. Dr. Murray consults with health care organizations in the United States and abroad on a variety of health care quality improvement strategies including efficiencies in office practice, the development and care of health care teams, change management in health care settings, physician compensation, and “big system” flow.
FEATURED GUEST:
Dr. Mark Murray
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2009
Conversations on Health Care explores Centering Pregnancy
Centering Pregnancy is a health care model that delivers quality care in a group setting and has shown to improve outcomes for mother and baby. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter interview the founder of the model, Sharon Schindler Rising, who is a nurse midwife and Executive Director of the Centering Healthcare Institute.
FEATURED GUEST:
Sharon Schindler Rising
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2009
Retail Care Clinic Industry
Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter explore two models in the retail care clinic industry. They’ll speak with Sandra Ryan, Take Care Health System’s Chief Nurse Practitioner Officer. Take Care owns and operates retail clinics inside Walgreens. Their second interview is with Dr. John Agwunobi, President of Wal-Mart’s Health and Wellness Division about its model of leasing retail space to independent health care providers.
FEATURED GUESTS:
Sandra Ryan
Dr. John Agwunobi
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2009
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Dr. Mitch Katz,
San Francisco's Director of Public Health, discuss the public
option and the universal access program.
Conversations on Health Care is an innovative radio show debuting today with special guest U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Dr. Mitch Katz, the nationally-known health director for the city and county of San Francisco, will also make a guest appearance. The show can be heard on WESU-FM at 88.1 or you can listen online at www.wesufm.org—streaming live worldwide. Join us for what we anticipate to be a memorable and inspiring inaugural show.
FEATURED GUESTS:
Nancy Pelosi
Dr. Mitch Katz
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